DENVER — Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced today that his office has joined with the Federal Trade Commission to file a lawsuit against Westminister-based Dalbey Education Institute, formerly known as American’s Note Network, and the companies’ principals on suspicion that they engaged in deceptive trade practices connected to misleading infomercials.

According to the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, the companies and their principals are suspected of creating, marketing and running an infomercial, called “Winning in the Cash Flow Business,” since 2002 that led consumers to believe they could get rich by dealing seller-financed promissory notes or cash flow notes. The infomercials, which ran across the United States and Canada, sold informational materials for initial prices ranging from $39.95 to $159. Consumers also were offered thousands of dollars in additional products and services to help with their promissory note businesses. According to the complaint, Consumers were told they could make tens of thousands of dollars in a matter of days by purchasing the Winning in the Cash Flow Business materials.

According to the complaint, very few consumers ever broke into the promissory notes business and most never earned any money as a result of the Winning in the Cash Flow Business materials.

“These infomercials preyed on consumers desire to get rich quick,” Suthers said. “Infomercials and other materials promising large returns with minimal training or effort are almost always scams. Consumers should remember that if an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

The Office of the Attorney General investigated the defendant companies and their principals in cooperation with the Federal Trade Commission. The Office of the Attorney General and the FTC will prosecute the case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.